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Loading... Sniper's Honorby Stephen Hunter
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  Harris_Niazi | May 24, 2018 |   All these aspects form the story of ‘Sniper’s Honor’ to create a deceptively clever, multi-layered thriller. You don’t notice how smart is it because you’re rattling through the chapters, desperate to find out what happens next… The result is both an historical military novel and a ripping read. It’s a ‘boys are back in town’ Bob Lee Swagger story to please long-term fans of the series, but it’s also easily accessible to newcomers. It’s stuffed full of gun tech, military expertise, bone-shattering ballistic description and the ‘feels right’ attention to detail which in the hands of some writers turns to stodge, but which Stephen Hunter delivers with aplomb. The short chapters switch between half a dozen different perspectives, split between the modern day and 1944. Back then, the German army is in retreat and the SS are settling scores by wiping out civilian settlements in eastern Europe. A Red Army sniper – one of several women who undertook that role – has been despatched to eradicate a particularly unpleasant Nazi officer before he flees overseas to sanctuary. But she has been betrayed… …in the modern world, Bob Lee’s interest is piqued when a reporter friend starts tugging at this thread, looking for a story. At first it feels as if they’re just carrying out an in-depth news investigation but pretty quickly it becomes clear they’ve trodden on sensitive toes, and the ghosts of the past are wrapped up with a plot in the present. There's more thoughts on the details of the book over at https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/snipers-honor-theres-life-i... If you’ve read all of the sprawling Swagger series then you’ll spot the differences from the early books. The recent episodes have lost the bitter grit and visceral intensity of the Earl Swagger stories. Sniper’s Honor is obviously written by a mature author about a mature protagonist, and it relies more on polished and perfected technique to ratchet up the tension, rather than directly engaging the reader’s emotions. 8/10 (  ) RowenaHoseason | Jun 22, 2016 | As with all novels involving multiple story lines, the book is frustrating at times. Just as the development of one story line becomes interesting the book makes an abrupt change to another story line that is, at that point, less interesting. It takes patience and a significant amount of time before all of the essential characters become familiar and the critical plot elements are introduced. Even then, the Zeigarnik effect is significant as the time frame and focal character shifts repeatedly.. Despite that frustration, I don't think the story could be told as effectively using an alternative approach. The story becomes captivating as the book approaches the last 100 pages and you will find yourself rooting for more than one of the "doomed" characters. In the end Hunter manages to tie most of the plot elements together. The final disposition of the platinum and its owner is an exception, and the final pages violate the "show, don't tell" dictum to wrap up the remaining loose end. Those weaknesses reduce my rating by half a star. (  ) Tatoosh | May 1, 2016 | ) fwbl | Dec 3, 2015 | ) jimmoz | Sep 17, 2014 | no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesBob Lee Swagger (9)
"Bob Lee Swagger is in love--with a woman who died 70 years ago. Ludmilla "Mili" Petrova was a great Russian sniper in World War II until she disappeared on a mission and was virtually erased from history. When Kathy Reilly of the Washington Post encounters a brief mention of Petrova in an old Russian propaganda magazine, she begins building a story around the legendary female sniper, who was once dubbed Die Weisse Hexe--The White Witch--and lauded by enemies and comrades alike. Mili's luxurious blonde hair and statuesque figure belied her fierce resolve to avenge the deaths of her husband and family by joining Stalin's Army and using her sharpshooting expertise to defeat Hitler's organization--ideally from the top down. There is very little on record for Reilly to mine for her profile, which only makes her want to dig deeper, enlisting her friend and former marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger to parse out the scarce details of Mili's astonishing military service. The more Swagger learns about the circumstances of Mili's last mission, the more he reveres the beautiful Russian heroine and longs to have known a fellow sniper with such courage and skill. And the more he believes her disappearance was no accident, and that Mili Petrova, while an essential player in Stalin's master plan, was merely a pawn in some larger conspiracy. But why would the Russian government go to such great lengths to erase one of their own decorated, legendary soldiers from history? And why, when Swagger joins Kathy Reilly on a research trip to the Carpathian Mountains, is someone trying to kill them for what they might find?"-- No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.64)
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Wikipedia in English
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The Russian sniper Ludmilla Petrova's part in the story was interesting, thrilling and exciting. I have always liked WW2 thrillers and the part of the story that stuck to that era was excellent. Otherwise the rest of the story was below average, too many coincidences, so may rating is for the portion of 1944 story. (